Bitterness: A beginning
Yippee! My first post! But alas, I’ve been bitter for a long, long time. Why, you might ask?
Answering that question is beyond the bounds of this one wee little post- but its a meme that I intend to develop over the days and months ahead, one small piece of bitterness at a time. Central to my bitterness, however, rests a single, seminal idea- call it, my simplified response to Marx’s simplified classist reading of history.
The history of mankind represents the continual struggle between those who desire to control, and ultimately exploit, others, and those who seek freedom, and the desire to leave, and be left, alone.
This battle has taken many forms over the years, from the absolute monarchs of old, to the 20th century incarnations featuring such all-stars as Hitler, Stalin, and the rest of their ilk. In more modern days, family guys like Saddam, complete with rape and torture rooms, round out the list.
Nothing controversial here, you may be saying to yourself. Then why is he bitter? Because Jonas Goldberg hit it on the head- modern liberals are merely the latest incantation of that age old inclination and desire to control others, to interfere, to dictate. And what makes me bitter is this- somehow, someway, they’ve managed to define themselves as the good guys, the compassionate ones, the kind and thoughtful ones!
This is what makes me bitter. If human history has taught us anything, its that civil forms based upon control have caused the maximum of human suffering. In the alternative, freedom in all its forms has been the single greatest fount for uplifting the generally miserable human condition. But here we are, in 2008, and folks still haven’t figured it out…
And its not like direct evidence of this fact resides in dusty old books in long-forgotten libraries- it stares us in the face, each and every day, whether we look afar, or closer to home.
And yet… and yet… modern liberals are the ‘good guys’, while those of us on the right that seek and celebrate freedom, well, we’re ’selfish’ or ‘uncaring’, left feeling uncomfortable exposing our beliefs in polite company, for fear of offending people…
For all humankind has known, all we have seen, all we have learned, the combined weight of human history has set forth a clear path forward for mankind, as well as ample warnings on which way not to go… And yet…
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